With a sudden surge in the packaged rice segment, which has become a Rs 400-crore category in less than two years, a tussle is on between genuine and look-alike basmati rice brands available at a 40-45% lower price band. Absence of GI certification on basmati rice has compounded the problem.

Naturally, established rice brands such as Tilda, Kohinoor and Dawat are crying foul and calling for benchmarking of standards. ?India is an exciting basmati market but varietal adulteration is rampant here. Major basmati players must come together to set up a code of practice for the sale of basmati, like the one in the UK. Tilda is the ?Gold? standard for basmati,” says RS Seshadri, director, Tilda Rice Land Pvt Ltd, a major processor and exporter of basmati rice in India.

According to Nielsen data, the packaged rice segment has jumped from under Rs 50-crore to become a Rs 400-crore category in less than 30 months. Experts say this is due to rise in consumption of packaged rice, owing to the entry of private labels, local basmati-like brands and mushrooming of modern retail points.

As per the GI application filed by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, only long-grain aromatic rice grown in Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Uttarakhand can be termed as ?basmati?. ?There has been an increase in the consumption of both normal long-grain rice and basmati rice,? says Anand Ramanathan of KPMG Advisory services.

However, leading basmati players concede that it is the lack of awareness that has led to the clutter in the packaged rice category. ?Since basmati rice is made available to consumers at so many price levels, we feel, in this highly cluttered market, the consumer is unaware of what the real basmati rice actually is. We bring basmati in its true form to its consumers,? claims Gurnam Arora, joint managing director, Kohinoor Foods Ltd.

According to Ramanathan, another reason for this category to witness high growth is the increase of private labels under modern retail.

Currently, the Future Group that operates Big Bazaar retail sells five rice varieties (both basmati and non-basmati) in the packaged rice segment under the brand name Ektaa. Its five rice variants include Red Matta, Sona Masoori, Govind Bhog , Ambe Mohar and Basmati.

However, the branded basmati rice category is dominated by the Rs 650-crore Kohinoor group, which sells its brands under three categories ? Kohinoor Supreme, Kohinoor Brown & Kohinoor Organic. Also, Kohinoor has special basmati rice under the brand names Trophy Gold, Trophy Royale, Charminar, 365, Nawab and Falcon. The price ranges from Rs 25 per kg to Rs 150 per kg.

Competing with Kohinoor is LT Foods?s Daawat, which is available in the super premium, premium and economy category. Tilda sells its own premium brand. Last year, India produced 3 million tonne premium-quality basmati rice (aromatic and long-grain), out of which 2.3 mt was exported, fetching the country Rs 12,000 crore as exports earning, one of the highest in the food product category.

Total basmati sold in the domestic market is not accurately estimated. It ranges from 5 to 7 lakh tonne and includes essentially three varieties ? traditional, evolved and 1121 Pusa. There are 150 exporters and processor of aromatic basmati rice with Tilda, Kohinoor and Dawat commanding a lion?s share.

However, rice exports still feel there is much to exploit in this category. ?We are yet to fully realise the potential of domestic basmati rice market,? says Vijay Setia, president, All India Rice Exporters? Association.